Jack Loves Gibbs
by RMK1983
Summary: Loosely related events in the developing relationship fo Sloane/Gibbs. Some based on spoilers for season 16.
1. Chapter 1

Jethro Gibbs sighed as he heard his front door open and close. He knew he should have locked it when he came home. He really was hoping for some peace and quiet tonight. The case they had just closed was nowhere close to their most frustrating, or most dangerous, but it was draining all the same.

He may have burned Rule 10, but it had its place, especially where the family members of the team were concerned.

Jimmy Palmer's father-in-law had been involved, pompous ass that he was. Gibbs would never understand how kind, sweet Breena Palmer has been raised by that oaf.

To top that off, the Chief, Tony DiNozzio, Sr. had been one of Ed's poker buddies and had tried to "give assistance" and bungled things as much as he ever did. Gibbs liked the man, but an investigator, he was not. Once Senior got involved, every aspect of the case took on more of a gray, shadowed aspect than it had to start with.

Gibbs heard his visitor approach his basement door and wondered which of the usual suspects would be invading his privacy tonight.

"Cowboy, you have some explaining to do."

Jack Sloane's voice drifted down into his basement sanctuary before she herself actually appeared. Once he did see her, he could tell she was furious.

"What?" He asked, falling back to his usual monosyllabic defense mechanism in the face of her ire.

"DiNozzio, Sr and I had a little chat today. I was concerned that I had offended him in some way. This whole case, he was so very friendly with the rest of the team, but kept me at a polite distance ever since we met. He assured me that he respected you too much to be overly friendly with 'your girl.'"

She heaved a breath and continued on. "I noticed you were staring daggers at him when he and I were introduced. Did something happen that I don't know about? Why does he think we're together?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I never told him that." It was true. He actually never uttered a word to Senior regarding Jack. However, if he was being truthful with himself, he had glowered when Senior started with his usual flirt stuff on being introduced to Jack. He may have even shaken his head, just slightly, when the older man made eye contact with him, Jack's hand still in his. If he were being truthful, which he was not.

Jack pursed her lips, unimpressed by his response. "Except, I know that you are really good at conveying exactly what you want without ever saying a word."

She paused, waiting for a response that never came. Gibbs just sat, staring at her impassively. Jack knew him too well to just let this go as a one off.

"You laid a claim on me!" She was practically shouting now. "How dare you! You had no right!"

Gibbs finally broke his silence. "You want to go out with the Chief, go ahead."

"I don't want to date him Gibbs, that is not the point!" Jack raked her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"What is your point? Cause I don't appreciate you bursting into my house just to yell at me!"

"You laid a claim on me but you didn't bother to do anything about it!" Jack shouted at him and then stopped, as if astonished by her own words.

Gibbs was definitely shocked by them. "What did you say?"

Jack spread her arms out at her sides. "Here I am Gibbs."

Gibbs stood and walked a couple of steps to put some distance between them.

"No, I have no right to any say about who you spend time with. You deserve better."

Jack approached him from behind, speaking more quietly. "What I deserve is an explanation. If you're going to be running off other men, I think I deserve that."

"I am bad at this, Jack." He scrubbed the back of his neck in agitation. "I have three ex wives and at least two serious girlfriends who could tell you that. You deserve everything, and I don't know if I can give that to you. But, the thought of you with someone else…" He paused, turning to look at her. "It makes my skin crawl."

"How long?" Jack whispered, Gibbs' words sinking in. At his questioning glance, she expanded her question.

"How long have you felt like that?"

Gibbs paused as he drew a deep breath and let it out through his nose before answering.

"I don't know. When I thought Gabriel Hicks blew you up along with his attorney, I felt like I couldn't breathe. You complained that I was looking at you strangely that night, but it was all I could do not to wrap you up and never let you go. By the time you told me about your time in Afghanistan, I knew there was no one else like you in my life. That's why I told you about Shannon and Kelly. I knew I could trust you with my secret. By Christmas, I was head over heels." He chuckled in self-deprivation. "You think I just go around, kissing everybody on Christmas Eve?"

Jack gave him a mirthful look. "For a man who has a reputation for being as much of a hard ass as you, you really do tend to kiss a lot of your coworkers. Abby, Kasie…"

Her voice trailed off as she got closer to him. "Are you saying that my Christmas kiss was different than those others?"

Gibbs reached out and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "Yeah. That kiss was a lot different."

Jack smiled. "I'm really glad." She paused, considering. "So, what now?"

Gibbs ducked his head, just slightly. "I'd like to kiss you for real. But the rest, I'd like to take slow. I want to do this right for you."

Jack nodded, "I'd like that too."

Their kiss was short and sweet. Tentative exploration mixed with the promise of more to come. It was the most that either would ask of the other.

Jack pulled back from their embrace with a slightly amused, slightly perplexed look on her face. "Senior mentioned something else. Who is Judith?"


	2. Episode 17

Spoilers for the promo 16x17

Gibbs closed the door to the interrogation room and leaned against the wall in the hallway. It had been the day from hell, with the exception that they had all made it through relatively unscathed.

Submarines were not his favorite place to be on a normal day. They were definitely not his favorite place to conduct a murder investigation.

The radioman, currently housed in the room behind him, had been the culprit all along. Unbeknownst to Gibbs and Bishop, he had disabled the radio in order to hamper their investigation. Not only had they not been able to get valuable information from the rest of the team, the team hadn't known if the two aboard were in danger or not.

Gibbs stretched his neck to each side, trying to work out the kinks. Something about being on that sub made him feel claustrophobic and tense. He had just switched sides when he heard footsteps around the corner in the hallway. Opening his eyes, he just saw the blonde blur approaching before he felt her arms around his neck.

Jack.

She normally wasn't this impulsive. However, he had kissed her in his basement, asked her to go slow, then disappeared on a radio silent submarine. No wonder she was a little erratic.

He looped his arms around her, holding her lightly. It wouldn't do to get carried away out in the open at work, but he wanted to reciprocate the gesture.

"I'm so glad you're ok." Her words were breathy in his ear.

She pulled back, framing each side of his face with her hands. He was just about to lean forward and kiss her when Torres and Bishop's voices could be heard down the hall, debating hotly as they usually did.

Jack gave him a watery smile, flexed her finger against his neck and retreated to the observation room to pull herself together.

Gibbs shook his head as his two agents rounded the corner, obvious to the scene they had just interrupted. Returning to the interrogation room with the new information they supplied, Gibbs considered that going slow might just be death of him.


	3. Cabin Adventure Part 1

"Oh, this rain!" Jack Sloane commented loudly as she walked down the stairs from her office to the main bullpen, the terrible weather obvious through the wall of windows in front of her. "I would just like to go outside without getting my face frozen or drenched. Is that too much to ask?" Her last question was directed at Gibbs, whose desk she paused beside.

"Could be worse." He commented dryly. "Could be snow."

"It's supposed to be nicer this weekend, Jack." Agent McGee piped up from across their workspace. "Dry and reasonably warm. Delilah and I already have plans to take the kids to the park. It's the first spring that they're really going to get to play outside."

"Ug, I hope you're right, McGee. I just need to spend some time outside." Jack's response was interrupted by the ringing of Gibbs' phone.

"Gear up!" He called, seconds after hanging up. Without any other words, Jack watched the whole team grab their bags and head out the door. She almost envied them their escape from the building. She looked out of the window again and saw the rain pouring from the sky and wondered for one moment why she had ever left California.

Later that afternoon, Gibbs popped his head into her office.

"Hey," He said quietly. "You busy?"

"For you? Never." Jack noticed that his Carmel colored blazer was wet around the shoulders. "Still raining?"

Gibbs considered his wet appearance. "Uh, yeah."

He shuffled his feet for a moment before speaking again. "That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. I was planning to go up to my cabin this weekend, you know, just for the day. I want to go and check out anything that may need work after the winter and get the place ready for use. Wanna come with me? The creeks will be up, but it should still be some pretty nice hiking. It's not the beach but..." He shrugged as he finished speaking.

Jack knew in an instant that this was not an invitation she could turn down, even if she had wanted to. The cabin was Gibbs' oasis, the place he went when even the boat in his basement couldn't offer him peace of mind. That he was inviting her there was a huge show of friendship.

"Cowboy," Jack exclaimed happily, "I think that may be just what I need. You sure you don't mind me tagging along?"

Gibbs just gave her a small smile and shook his head. "Wouldn't have offered."

"Anything I need to bring?" Jack asked.

"Just whatever snacks you like hiking and a dry change of clothes. It may still be a little wet in places." Gibbs walked to the door and gave her a little awkward nod before heading out.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, Jack and Gibbs had all of their gear stowed in the back of Gibbs' truck and were headed out of town.

Jack sighed as she wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. Gibbs had shown up that morning with coffee from the diner fixed exactly the way she liked it. She turned her head slightly on the headrest, considering her companion out of the corner of her eye. They hadn't spoken of their basement kiss since it happened. Two big cases in a row had consumed all of their time and mental energy. They had agreed to go slowly, but this was glacial. Jack was glad that they had this opportunity to spend time together.

"Spit it out." Gibbs' voice cut through her musings. "I can hear the gears in your head turning."

Jack shrugged happily. "I'm just looking forward to today. Time outside after a long winter, good company, a chance to get to know each other better."

A raised eyebrow was the immediate response to her admission. "We don't know each other well enough? You already know my biggest secret."

"Well, yes, but there are so many things I wonder about you still." Jack admitted with a playful tone in her voice.

"Such as?"

"Who was your first love?" It was the first question that came to her mind, but as soon as it was out, she knew it wasn't the best opening topic.

Gibbs shrugged. "Shannon." He said simply, never taking his eyes off the road.

Jack smiled over at him. "That is beyond sweet. Your first love was your true love."

Gibbs looked a little startled at her declaration but stayed silent.

"How old were you when you met?"

"I was 20, she was 17." He quirked a rueful smile at the memory. "I wanted to marry her right away. But I was just in the Corps and her parents wanted her to go to college, so we didn't get married for 5 years."

"And then Kelly." Jack hoped a little gentle prodding would keep the good memories flowing.

"And then Kelly, three years later." Gibbs shook his head. "She's been gone twice as long as I ever had her."

"Yeah," Jack said softly, acknowledging that while their story may have begun a small town fairy tale, it had ended as a nightmare.

They were quiet for a long time before Gibbs turned to her, his face soft. "What about you? Who was the first person to win Jack Sloane's heart?"

"Oh!" Jack said with mock horror. "Nothing nearly as romantic. Michael Sutherland. I lost my virginity to him in the back seat of his car and then he bragged about it to everyone at school the next day. Bastard."

Gibbs snorted. "Not your true love then?"

"Please."

"What about your baby's father?" Gibbs asked quietly, unsure of his standing on this topic.

"Not first love, but maybe most significant." Jack hadn't batted an eye at Gibbs' acknowledgement that he knew her biggest secret as well, and it had nothing to do with Afghanistan. "Most significant heartbreak anyway."

"He wasn't interested in the baby?"

"Not in the slightest." Jack's voice had taken on a hollow quality. "He was fine and good to have me around, have me in his bed as long as it was casual, but the first hint of something serious, he was out the door."

Gibbs' heart squeezed. How many women might tell the story of their relationship with him in a very similar way? He had never, and would never abandon his child or its mother, but plenty of his relationships had ended because things got more serious than he could handle.

"I thought once he heard about the baby, we'd settle down, have a family. Once he was gone…" She paused, taking a breath. "I was still in grad school. A thousand miles away from my parents. I made a decision. One that I don't regret. It makes me sad sometimes, but I know it was the right one."

Gibbs reached over and covered her hand with his. They were quiet the rest of the drive out to the cabin.


	4. Cabin Adventures Part 2

**Sorry about the abrupt end of the last chapter. I wrote all of the cabin portion as one block, but I'm trying to keep my chapter length consistant.**

The atmosphere in the truck had returned to one of happy anticipation by the time they made their way to the cabin. The trees on either side of the rough cut road that Gibbs had cleared himself were just beginning to bud with a new season's greenery.

"This is beautiful. You built this yourself?" Jack wandered around the outside of the cabin, taking it all in.

Predictably, Gibbs just shrugged and gave her a half smile, pleased that she liked his little getaway.

Jack made her way to the back of the truck where Gibbs was unhooking the tie downs from the load in the bed. "I bet you bring all the girls here, don't 'cha? When you want to impress them with your mountain man ways."

Gibbs stopped what he was doing and leaned against the truck. "I've never brought any women here," he admitted in a low voice. He shrugged, "Ziva was here once, but she does not count in this case."

"Well, I guess I am lucky then." Jack kicked herself for her inept flirting but Gibbs just smiled a shy grin.

"You gunna help me take this stuff in or what?" He turned, grabbed a tote from the truck and headed into the cabin.

They spent the next half hour bringing in provisions from the truck, unpacking and putting things away.

"You really do this right, don't you?" Jack asked as she unloaded a rubber tote full of linens, handing a set of worn flannel sheets to Gibbs so he could make the bed. "You pack up all of the soft stuff every winter?"

"I like the great outdoors, but I do not want to share my sheets and towels with mice." Gibbs explained, shaking out the equally worn quilt on top of the sheets he had just stretched over the mattress.

Straightening up, he extended a hand to her. "Let's go outside and check things out."

A once around the cabin assured Gibbs that the structure had stood up to the winter weather adequately enough and soon, the pair had their gear loaded into backpacks and were headed for the trail.

They walked a little way silently, each enjoying the promising signs of warm days to come. When they reached the spring in the hill, Gibbs grabbed Jack's hand, tugging her up the terrain.

"Common. Up here, you can see the whole valley."

They climbed to the top and were welcomed by a wide valley of still mostly bare trees, allowing them to see farther and deeper than normal.

"There," Gibbs pointed to the east, "is where Tobias saw the parachute when those two robbers stowed away in that plane."

"Was that the last time you were up here?" Jack asked.

Gibbs laughed. "Yeah, it's amazing we survived that day. Those two idiots." He did not elaborate whether he was referring to the stowaways or Fornell and Phil, but something made her suspect it was the latter.

Jack smiled, more at his reaction than the words. "You really are cute when you smile like that, you know that?"

Gibbs actually blushed at the compliment, so she kicked it up a notch. "And those blue eyes! How does any girl resist?"

Jack could tell he was trying to suppress another smile, so she leaned up and gave him a slow peck, making that hidden smile bloom across his face.

He was soon reciprocating the kiss and the two stood on the hillside, oblivious to the scenery for quite some time. For Jack, kissing Gibbs felt like the most natural thing in the world. There were no fireworks of newfound intimacy, just comfortable and familiar affection. She did not allow herself to admit that what she felt for him seemed very much like a well aged love.

"Are we here to hike or are we just going to make out in the woods?" Gibbs asked when they finally pulled apart, his voice hoarse.

"Well," Jack hooked one finger under the chest strap on his backpack and gave it a little tug, "I wouldn't mind a change in the itinerary."

Gibbs pressed his lips together and shook his head. As much as he would like nothing more than to spend the day kissing her, that was not in the spirit of going slow. "Come on. We still have some ground to cover."

"So, what was your most unusual interrogation?" Gibbs asked, holding Jack's hand so she could walk across a fallen log.

They had been walking and talking, taking turns asking each other questions, for the better part of the afternoon. It was the nicest day either of them could remember in some time.

Jack answered with a story from Afghanistan, about a villager who had critical information but spoke a dialect that had no translator, either from Syops or the locals.

Gibbs, walking safely on the trail, pretended to consider the question when it was his turn.

"I interrogated a Klingon once." Gibbs stated nonchalantly.

"What?" Jack whipped around toward him, slipping on the moss covered log as she did.

Reacting quickly, Gibbs wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling, pulling her down from the log and tight against his body. It was the closest that they had ever been, and they both took notice.

Jack was sure he was going to kiss her. And he did, the deepest and most intense kiss of their relationship. Here were the fireworks that had eluded her earlier. He pulled back, flashing that endearing half smile at her, still holding her flush against him. "Your turn."

Two can play at that game Jack thought. She knew exactly what her next question would be.

"What," she asked, pushing away from him to casually walk down the trail, still holding his hand, "is your favorite sexual position?"

Gibbs made a sound that was something between choking and laughing, but when he answered, his voice was steady. "All of them."

"Oh, yes," Jack teased him, "we're going to get along just fine."


End file.
